Complexities involved in providing fixed seating in theaters, auditoriums or places of worship or extended seating in waiting areas such airports cause costly inefficiencies. Compromises in seating size and row length often must be made reducing flexibility in design. While current methods of customization for such seating result in reduced seating capacity, increased complication in assembly and installation, reduced flexibility in design, complexities in manufacturing, inventory and shipping processes, and difficulty in maintenance.
The present invention, by standardizing certain components and modularizing the assembly improves the inefficiencies inherent in current custom seating systems and assemblies. The system can be applied to all types of seating, whether fixed or not, including seating for theaters, auditoriums, places of worship, airports, classrooms and waiting areas, while maintaining all the functionality and aesthetics that current assemblies offer.
The present invention uses an assembly of beams, which are supported horizontally as the building block for the seating assembly. The beam assembly may have multiple beams of standard lengths, which are joined together to achieve the desired length of the seating assembly. The remaining components of the assembly are also of standardized sizes, including molded seats, individual seat backs and bottoms, any seat connection mechanisms, any armrests, cupholders or tablet arms, any decorative pieces, or any other envisioned seating assembly component, each of which may attach to the beam assembly through a modular assembly.
Each beam may have a rectangular cross section while the component assembly pieces connect with the beam assembly with U-shaped brackets. The U-shaped bracket surrounds the rectangular cross section beam assembly and withstands slippage as the component assembly pieces experience a torque. It is envisioned that each beam may be triangular, hexagonal, octagonal or other cross sectional shape and the component assembly pieces may have a correspondingly shaped attachment bracket to resist slippage due to torque. The beam made be steel or aluminum or any other material having suitable strength. The components can then be fixedly secured to the beam assembly. While self tapping screws can be used, preferably a nut and bolt or other fixation means may be employed such that the fixation can be accomplished without the need for welds or putting holes in the beam.
By utilizing standardized parts, the manufacturing of the assembly components is made simpler. Thousands of custom sized pieces do not need to be manufactured for each job order. In fact, many pieces of standard size are not even job specific. This also reduces the complexities associated with storage and inventory of component pieces. Because the major components are all the same size, similar components can all be stored together, and not separated by size or job order. Likewise, the parts need not be separated and itemized out for shipping to a job site. These benefits manifest themselves in lower costs.
Another place the present seating assembly invention can save costs is in the ease of assembly the system provides. An installer does not have to search through thousands of components, which must be specifically marked and designated for an exact location on a seating assembly for an exact location in a large auditorium. Rather, an installer can merely install and assemble the standard size components and modular pieces. Any necessary customization is done on site by the installer with little trouble.
A further benefit of minimal customization which can be done on site is greater flexibility in design. The seating assembly dimensions can be changed, the seating locations within the room can be moved and the seating assembly components can be reused. All this can happen on site and be done by the installer or even accomplished at a later date.
Furthermore, maintenance is easier and less costly as standardized components can be easily replaced. The components can simply be unscrewed and removed from the beam, and replacement standardized parts are easily obtained.
The present invention may be applied to various types of seating having customized appearance while still maintaining the benefits of the modular seating system. The specific advantages of applying the seating system and assembly to a pew or bench are described in greater detail in a copending application.